Giuseppe Ciccimarra was an Italian tenor

Tenor

The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...

, closely associated with Rossini roles.

Career

Ciccimarra was born in Altamura

Altamura

Altamura is a town and comune of Apulia, southern Italy. It is located on the Murge plateau in the province of Bari, 45 km South-West of Bari, close to the border with Basilicata. As of 2011 its population was of 69,728.-Overview:...

. He was considered one of the best comprimario

Comprimario

A Comprimario is a supporting role in an opera. Derived from the Italian "con primario", or "with the primary", the term refers to a performer who sings small role pieces....

 tenors of his time.

For Rossini, he created, at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples, several roles including: Iago in Otello

Otello (Rossini)

Otello is an opera in three acts by Gioachino Rossini to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Berio di Salsi, based on Shakespeare's play Othello....

, Goffredo in Armida

Armida (Rossini)

Armida is an opera in three acts by Gioachino Rossini to an Italian libretto by Giovanni Schmidt, based on scenes from Gerusalemme liberata by Torquato Tasso.-Performance history:...

, Aronne in Mosè in Egitto

Mosè in Egitto

Mosè in Egitto is a three-act opera written by Gioachino Rossini to a libretto by Andrea Leone Tottola, which was based on a play by Francesco Ringhieri, L'Osiride, of 1760....

, Ernesto in Ricciardo e Zoraide

Ricciardo e Zoraide

Ricciardo e Zoraide is an opera in two acts by Gioachino Rossini to an Italian libretto by Francesco Berio de Salsa...

, Pilade in Ermione

Ermione

Ermione is a tragic opera in two acts by Gioachino Rossini to an Italian libretto by Andrea Leone Tottola, based on the play Andromaque by Jean Racine.- Performance history :...

, Condulmiero in Maometto II

Maometto II

Maometto II is an opera in two acts by Gioachino Rossini, to an Italian libretto by Cesare della Valle, set in the 1470s during the time of the war between the Turks and Venetians. Della Valle based his libretto on his earlier play Anna Erizo...

.

He retired from the stage in 1826, and taught voice and piano in Vienna. Among his pupils were Josef Tichatschek

Josef Tichatschek

Josef Aloys Tichatschek , originally Tichaček, was a Bohemian opera singer highly regarded by Richard Wagner...

, creator of Wagner's Rienzi

Rienzi

Rienzi, der Letzte der Tribunen is an early opera by Richard Wagner in five acts, with the libretto written by the composer after Bulwer-Lytton's novel of the same name . The title is commonly shortened to Rienzi...

and Tannhäuser

Tannhäuser (opera)

Tannhäuser is an opera in three acts, music and text by Richard Wagner, based on the two German legends of Tannhäuser and the song contest at Wartburg...

, the Austrian tenor Heinrich Kreutzer and Sophie Löwe

Sophie Löwe

Johanna Sophie Christiane Löwe was a German opera soprano, active mainly in Vienna and Berlin. She was one of the most famous German opera singers of her time.-Life and career:...

, one of the most famous opera singers of her time. He died in Venice.

Sources

• Roland Mancini and Jean-Jacques Rouveroux (orig. H. Rosenthal and J. Warrack, French edition), Guide de l’opéra, Les indispensables de la musique (Fayard
  Fayard
  Fayard is a French Paris-based publishing house established in 1857. Fayard is controlled by Hachette Livre.-Works published:Works published by Editions Fayard include:...
  
  , 1995). ISBN 2-213-01563-6